[HPforGrownups] Why ole Snapey is a vamp was Re: No fire in the office

[Silverthorne Dragon]

No: HPFGUIDX 88072

<justcarol67 at y...> wrote:

{Pippin wrote:}

OOP evidence, briefly:
Snape's refusal to take meals with the Order

(Anne's Response}
Which could as easily be, as I and others have pointed out, that Snape does
not wish to have any more memories of the Order members as friends and.or
allies than is absolutely necasary so that there's far less memories in his
mind to support that fact should Voldy start seriously digging for proof
that it's true.

Or, if you really want to discard that theory, then there's the one that
also fits in which is Snape is a truly antisocial bastard and although he
works with these people sees no reason to sup with them.

Third reason? It's Sirius's house. How many of you would be willing to eat
dinner in the house of the person you most dislike, and certainly have
difficulties being civil to if you didn't HAVE to be there?

There are far more reasons than Vampirism for him not to stay at Grimauld
Place...not to mention that he DOES eat with the other teachers at Hogwarts
during dinner, in full veiw of students--so not needing normal human
sustanence doesn't hold much water either.

{Pippin wrote}

His preference for shade in the Pensieve scene

{Anne Wrote}

Er...I prefer to sit in the shade myself when I'm reading outside...keeps
the sunlight from glaring off the nice white (and sometimes even yellow or
parchement) paper and blinding me. And I doubt that I would qualify as a
vampire...even though I prefer night to day, have pale skin, (As well as
reddish hair and green eyes--another supposed sign of vampirsim or at least
witchcraft) thanks to my very celtic heritage, and can have a hell of a
temper sometimes if something hits me just wrong. Also, back on topic, there
are bathers in the lake, and people in warm weather clothing in that scene
as well. So it may be a warm day--a perfectly good reason to sit in the
shade and out of the 'hot' sun. Not to mention it's good cover when you're
used to getting hunted down and bullied...until you get up and they see you,
at any rate. ^^;

{Pippin Wrote}

His supernaturally acute hearing, if he could actually hear what James and
co were saying, and this was not a trick of the Penseive.

{Anne wrote}

Well, I'd buy that if Rowling hadn't given us just as 'omniscient' a view
during Crouch's trail scene from Dumbly's memories in the pensive. Even in
that scene, Harry saw and heard from more than Dumbly's POV. In fact, in
both cases, he was allowed quite a bit of movement to go where he wanted,
and see what he wished to see. So unless Dumbly was ALSO a vamp with
excellent hearing....I have to say that yes, it is possible that you can
hear everything from a memory in a pensive, including things that are not in
the immediate awareness of the person whose memory it happens to be. It's a
scientific fact that the mind records everything *within range* of your
senses and stores that information. As for what you choose to notice and
keep in your concious memory or discard (Relegate to your unconcious mind)
is up to the individual person and what they are likely to pay most
attention to...so it's perfectly reasonable for Harry to have had access to
more than JUST Severus's or Dumbledore's POV...especially considering that
it looks like the memories are removed, whole cloth, from the mind itself
and deposited into the pensive (A strand of silver--no detailing marks that
can tell the remover where to 'snip' and 'paste' if they want certain POV to
be excluded).

{Pippin Wrote}

I'm not a Snape hater, far from it, nor am I a huge fan of  vampire-fiction.
Mostly I see Snape's character as a mirror and foil of Lupin's. Lupin wants
desperately to "pass" as a normal wizard and his whole life has been colored
by his inability to do this. Vampire!Snape, OTOH,  *can* pass, and I think
Rowling means to show us that this too has a cost. In any case, the desire
to be accepted by human society is the most human sort of motivation I can
think of

{Anne Wrote}

I don't think it's a question of who hates Snape as to why the theories that
put Snape in a bad light get argued against...I think its because most
theories seem dead set on making him out to be some sort of bad guy, while
ignoring the postion he's in. It's a black-and-white, all-or-nothing view
point that makes no allowances, although plenty (and often what would be the
same) allowances are given to the 'good guys' of the story.

Thus far, the theories presented against him are that he hates/wants to
kill/mistakes-him-for-dear-old-dad, Harry, that he's a vamp, that he'll
betray the good guys in the end, that his temper in dealing with Harry and
co makes him abusive, etc. And the thing is, is that he's a *most
convienient* (and admittedly bad-tempered) target. If he told Harry the
things he has told him in a friendly, non-aggressive way, no one would
object. If he were as 'fun' to be around as Sirius was, people would love
him, and be rooting for him in Snape's Worst Memory when James and Sirius
went after him. If it wasn't pointed out that he was pale, greasy haired,
and snaggled tooth at least once every book, folks would likely consider him
'handsome' with his black hair and eyes, and that would distance him a bit
from the 'evil' stereotype, because they would relate better to him on a
personal level (Because, admit it, most folks are highly influenced by
looks--even if those 'looks' are merely talked about on the printed page. If
he LOOKS that bad...there must be a reason for it...likely a 'bad' one). But
because he's an ill-tempered, admittedly no-so-good-looking, pissy old
codger, folks are determined to put him in the bad guy role, whether it's as
DE, double agent, or abuser of children. Basically, folks don't like his
style, so he MUST be bad. And adding vampirism to his list of 'sins' only
seems 'right' in that type of thought process.

It reminds me of an old 'fable' that my mom's work once had up on the
employee refridgerator about a sparrow who was too stubborn to fly south for
the winter, even though he knew (and had been told by several other animals)
that he would die if he stayed. He ended up getting frozen, falling into a
pile of cow manure, reviving from the warmth of the manure, starting to
sing, and then getting eaten by a cat after it had dug him out of the manure
he could not escape from by himself. The moral there? "Not everyone who
helps you is your friend...not everyone who craps on you is your enemy. And
if you're warm and happy in a pile of crap, keep your mouth shut".

Admittedly, when Snape first came on the scene, I had no more love for him
than the average Harry fan. In fact, I thought he was a right royal bastard.
He IS mean, snarky, and not pleasant. But, as Rowling is revealing through
the books, he has reason, and good ones, for why he is the way he is. The
audience may not relate very well, because they have never been the adult
survivor of an abusive household (one that has likely never had the benefit
of a qualified councillor), have never had to dig themselves out of a wholly
wrong situation they'd gotten themselves into (Like joining a murderous
cult, which you could easily relate the DE to), have never had to be a spy
for thier country, and against former friends and allies no less, have never
been mercilessly bullied by the 'good guys' at school, and have never been
talked down to and ignored for most of thier life (Even Dumbly tends to cut
Snape off when he gets started). It's easy to discount someone when you
haven't had those experiences...just as easy as assigning them a 'factual'
trait that is based more on what people think they see, as opposed to what
is there. Snape's situation requires both thought and the ability to
re-evaluate him every time a new piece of information about him is
presented. He is not a black-and-white character, and black-and-white
thinking won't be accurate. Like real life, Snape is not easily defined, and
shouldn't be. And that includes assigning him an 'obvious' trait like
vampirism.

Although it *would* help to illustrate that acceptance under false pretenses
has a price, I think Rowling is already covering that with Hagrid and Madam
Maxine (Who, although is obviously half-giant, does not acknowledge that
fact, or allow it to be acknowledged in public), among others. There are
more than enough half-humans and demi (non) humans to make that point very,
very clear. She doesn't need Snape as a vampire to illustrate the point
further.

Geez....the windbag strikes again...eheheh....^^;

Anne